Beef Industry Shifts Focus With New Advertising Campaign

Beef is more convenient than ever, and with the launch of a new checkoff-funded advertising campaign in January 1999, the beef industry is going to make sure Americans hear about it. Capitalizing on one of the most memorable lines in advertising, the new campaign brings back the "Beef. It's What's For Dinner(R)" tagline, recognized by 72 percent of Americans. It also aims to inform consumers and beef industry channels about a hot new trend -- beef dishes that are fully cooked and ready to microwave and serve in about 10 minutes.

The $10 million beef checkoff-funded campaign focuses on the new category, which includes traditional beef favorites such as pot roasts, meat loaf and beef ribs -- all ready-to-heat and eat in 10 minutes. The majority of the products come from the undervalued chuck and round.

"The ads recapture the values and images important to producers and American consumers," said Roger Welder, a cattle producer from Victoria, Texas, and chairman of the NCBA Advertising Committee. "But most importantly, they make an announcement to consumers and beef industry channels that the new fully-prepared beef products are out there and they're designed to fit into today's time-crunched lifestyles. Seventy percent of consumers don't decide what they'll eat for dinner until after 4:30 p.m. the same day. The new advertising campaign will help direct these consumers to their grocery stores and will help encourage the same grocery stores to make sure the products are in their meat cases."